Pushpak Reusable Launch Vehicle
Source: Economic Times
GS III: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology
Overview
- News in Brief
- About Pushpak
- Chitradurga Aeronautical Test Range
Why in the News?
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has reached a significant milestone in reusable launch vehicle technology with the successful landing experiment of the RLV LEX-02.
News in Brief
- The experiment was conducted at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
- It marks a crucial step forward in the development of reusable launch vehicles (RLVs).
- Building upon the success of the RLV-LEX-01 mission last year, the RLV-LEX-02 experiment involved more challenging manoeuvres and dispersions, requiring the vehicle to correct both cross-range and downrange deviations before landing autonomously on the runway.
About Pushpak
- Also known as, RLV-TD or Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator.
- It is India’s first uncrewed flying testbed developed for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s RLV Technology Demonstration Programme started in 2012.
- It is a scaled-down prototype of an eventual two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) reusable launch vehicle.
- The RLV-TD was developed with the objective to test various aspects
- Hypersonic flight
- Autoland
- Powered cruise flight
- Hypersonic flight using the air-breathing engine propulsion
- Hypersonic Experiment
- Two RLV TD experiments
- Reusable Launch Vehicle Hypersonic Flight Experiment or RLV HEX was the first test flight in the RLV Technology Demonstration Programme.
- The Reusable Launch Vehicle Landing Experiment or RLV-LEX was the second test flight.
Reusable Launch Vehicle Hypersonic Flight Experiment or RLV HEX
- HEX was successfully conducted on 23 May 2016.
- RLV-TD consists of a fuselage (body), a nose cap, double delta wings and twin vertical rudders.
- Objectives
- Validating the aerodynamic design characteristics during hypersonic flight
- Characterize induced loads during the hypersonic descent through the atmosphere
- Assess the performance of the carbon fibre used in construction of the nose of the vehicle
- Demonstrate first stage separation sequencing
Reusable Launch Vehicle Landing Experiment or RLV-LEX
- RLV-LEX-01
- Successfully conducted on 2 April 2023 at the Chitradurga Aeronautical Test Range.
- Objectives: (i)Simulating the exact conditions of a Space Re-entry vehicle’s landing – high speed, unmanned, autonomous, precise landing from the same return path (ii) Validating the landing parameters such as the ground relative velocity, the sinking rate of landing gears and precise body rates as might be experienced by an orbital re-entry space vehicle on its return path.
- RLV-LEX-02
- Conducted at Chitradurga Aeronautical Test Range on 22 March 2024.
- The vehicle used its nosewheel steering system, landing gear brakes, and drogue parachute to help it come to a precise halt.
What are the upcoming Experiments?
Two more experiments are planned by ISRO
- OREX (Orbital Return Flight Experiment)
- The OREX will launch on a GSLV mk.II rocket
- SPEX (Scramjet Propulsion Experiment)
Chitradurga Aeronautical Test Range
- An outdoor testing and evaluation facility set up by DRDO.
- Under the command of the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE).
- Chitradurga is located at Varavoo Kaval in Challakere Taluk of Chitradurga district, Karnataka.
- The runway is currently 2.2 km long.
- Chitradurga ATR is intended to conduct the trials of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), air-to-ground weapons, parachutes and aerostats.
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